We walked for over five hours aimlessly, trying to find shelter. The sky began to rumble, and the ash-colored clouds moved faster over our heads, announcing the arrival of acid rain. The sulfuric smell settled around us, traveling easily with the wind. I panicked, knowing that if I didn't find a roof soon, it could spell disaster for us.
"Farris, the sky..." Julius said.
"I'm aware. I noticed a building in the distance when I climbed the old highway looking for shelter. We should head that way, before it begins to pour."
I gave Lacey a small amount of water, as she refused to eat anything we tried to give her. Droplets of acid rain began to fall from the sky, forcing us to run towards the old building. An array of rusted cars piled up at the entrance, portraying a scene that was easy to understand.
"Looks like they were in a hurry to get out," Julius said.
"This used to be a parking garage. Let's get settled on one of the floors, preferably the middle one."
We climbed the ramp of the parking structure, the acid rain striking the concrete above us like distant applause. The middle level seemed dry enough. In the distance, a small fire smoldered beside a cluster of worn tents, its smoke thin and reluctant.
Someone was here. Julius took a cautious step toward the nearest tent. Suddenly, the flap moved before he reached it.
A man stepped out slowly, wearing a cracked respirator mask. His clothes hung loosely from his bones. When he pulled the mask off, his lips were pale, his eyes sunken.
He smiled.
"Well," he muttered, voice hoarse. "Looks like fortune found me."
His hands trembled — not from illness, but from anticipation. The way he stared at the bundle in my arms made my skin crawl. Without hesitation, I tightened my grip on Lacey.
From somewhere above us, a bottle rolled down the ramp and clattered to the floor. Seconds later, three more figures emerged from the shadows behind us.
Their ribs showed through torn fabric. Their cheeks were hollow. Their eyes carried the same look — not rage, not cruelty.
Hunger.
"We don't want trouble," I said.
The man near the fire tilted his head. "Trouble?" He gave a thin laugh. "No one wants trouble."
Something slammed against the back of my knees. My legs buckled. I twisted as I fell, shielding Lacey beneath me. The concrete scraped my shoulder. The breath left my lungs in a violent rush.
Boots struck my ribs.
Not hard enough to kill, but hard enough to weaken. Julius struggled, but one of the men seized him from behind, pressing a dull blade to his throat.
"Easy," the leader said, stepping closer. His voice wasn't cruel — just tired. "We don't need to damage the meat."
Julius froze. The man crouched in front of me. His eyes drifted toward Lacey as she let out a soft coo.
He hesitated. For a brief second, something human flickered in his expression.
Then his stomach growled audibly, and whatever remained of that hesitation vanished.
"It's been weeks," he whispered. "You understand."
He reached for her.
I tried to rise, but another kick forced me down.
"Please," I rasped. "She's just a baby."
"Exactly," he replied.
He pulled the blanket back slightly. And that's when it happened. A sharp whistle sliced through the air.
The man stiffened. Blood trickled from the corner of his lip as a blade protruded from his forehead.
The man collapsed forward. The remaining three men spun toward the sound. From the far end of the level, a figure stepped into view — cloaked in black, moving quickly towards them.
The first attacker lunged.
The stranger sidestepped effortlessly, driving a blade into the man's side. A second man fell before he could even raise his weapon. The last one staggered backward, eyes wide with something that looked less like fear and more like regret.
"I'm sorry," he whispered — though whether to himself or to us, I couldn't tell.
Then he, too, fell. Silence returned to the parking structure, broken only by the soft drip of acid rain beyond the walls. The stranger approached slowly. He knelt beside the fallen leader, closed the man's eyes with two fingers, and then turned his attention to me.
His gaze softened when he saw Lacey.
"You kept her alive," he said. "Thank you."
"I am her big brother," I said, forcing myself upright despite the pain. “And I will not let you take her from me.”
Lacey reached toward the strange man. The moment her fingers brushed his skin, the man inhaled sharply. Tears slid down his pale cheeks.
Slowly, he lowered his hood.
His ears curved upward like hers. Around his neck hung the same golden tree encircled in light.
"She showed me," he said, voice trembling. "Every step. Every sacrifice you went through to keep her alive."
He removed a glove and pressed his hand to my forehead.
Warmth spread through me — not like fire, but like sunlight breaking through winter clouds. The bruises vanished. My ribs no longer ached. Breath returned to my lungs.
I turned at once.
"Julius!"
He stirred, blinking. "I'm fine… Where's Lacey?"
The stranger stood before us, holding her gently, not as someone who reclaims property, but like a father who treasures what he believed was lost forever.
"I owe you more than thanks," the man said.
"You're not from here."
"No," he replied. "I am Valdus Demrah, sovereign of the Kingdom of Lei. My daughter's true name is Allorah. She was taken from our realm and abandoned upon this dying world."
His eyes lifted briefly toward the ash-choked sky beyond the concrete walls. I looked at her once more in his arms.
She watched me — not confused, not afraid.
"Does this mean... I will not see her again?"
Valdus did not answer at once.
Instead, he took a few steps forward and dropped a circular device on the ground. With a subtle motion of his hand, its surface shimmered. The air bent inward, folding like fabric drawn between unseen hands.
Light spilled outward.
Green fields stretched beyond it — endless and alive. I heard wind moving through tall grass. Birds. Running water.
The gusts of wind didn't burn my skin.
"This passage will remain open for ten heartbeats after I cross," Valdus said. "This world nears its end. Its breath grows thin." Allorah grabbed his finger and cooed.
"Is that so? Well, you're the princess. I can't tell you no."
He took a step forward and placed his hand on my head. "The princess has spoken."
"What does she say?"
"That you are hers," he replied. "As she is yours. In my kingdom, the word of the princess is law. She asks that you and your brother walk beside her — not as servants, but as family."
The weight I had carried since the highway — since the car — since the village gates — loosened all at once.
I took Julius' hand.
Behind us, the world crackled faintly with distant thunder.
Ahead of us, there was a different world, a place ready to welcome us with open arms. And without looking back, we followed Valdus' steps and crossed the portal towards the Kingdom of Lei.
-The end.
This story serves as the origin of a much larger tale set in the Kingdom of Lei.
© 2026 Damian Ashen. All rights reserved.
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